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Read Apiaries
Welcome to Read Apiaries. Our hives are situated in Church Crookham, Dogmserfield and Crookham Park.
Like most UK beekeepers (there’s about 44,000 of us) I keep Honey Bees
Yay, finally I hear you say – Chunk Comb honey now also available. (Limited supplies). It’s more work for the bees – as they have to draw out the comb in addition to filling and capping all the cells. It’s also why we don’t have as much of it.
Having sold out of Soft Set honey a while ago, our second batch is now available, made from 2025 spring honey!
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We are at PILCOT FARM DOGSMERSFIELD village Show supporting Fleet Beekeepers Association.![]()
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Come down for a lovely afternoon out with lots of stalls and Punch and Judy, Dog show Craft tent and produce show as well . ![]()
£5 adult entry in cash.
It’s been so hot!![]()
Bees are pretty good at thermo-regulating their internal hive environment. There are several strategies they use if it’s getting too hot internally (bearing in mind they have to keep the brood area at ~36C for safe brood rearing). To cool the internal temperature they:![]()
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– Collect and bring back water to the hive, where it’s spread on the internal surfaces. As it evaporates it helps cool the hive. (A bit like the "swamp coolers" we sometimes use). As beekeepers we have half a mind where sources of water are for our colonies, and supply shallow areas for ease of collection. ![]()
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– They generate an airflow through the hive from bottom to top, by standing and fanning at the entrance. As beekeepers we open up the hive entrances and provide vent holes in the roofs to help the process. ![]()
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– On a warm summer night – when all the population is back home, if it’s still too warm inside, those bees not needed inside the hive will exit and cluster outside to reduce the number of bodies inside the hive (see picture taken just a few days ago of one of my hives in the garden doing just this).